Method and system for facilitating keyword-based searching in images

ABSTRACT

Technologies are generally described for a system to extract description of reference numerals in images and facilitate keyword-based search in images. In various examples, the system may include one or more databases, a computer readable memory, and one or more processors. The system may be configured to extract one or more reference numerals from an image, and identify and extract corresponding description of the one or more reference numerals from a description document corresponding to the image. The system may be further configured to extract text from the images, and store the images in a database with the extracted data, i.e., text, reference numerals, and corresponding descriptions. The system may be further configured to receive an input query intending to search images related to a search logic of the input query, search a database to identify an image including either of text or a reference numeral having a corresponding description that corresponds to the search logic of the input query, and render the identified image via a display device executing the output interface.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from Indian ProvisionalApplication No. 201711001887 filed Jan. 17, 2017, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments described herein in general, concern methods and systems forfacilitating keyword-based searching in images. More particularly, theembodiments concern methods and systems for accurately extractingdescription of reference numerals in images, storing the extracteddescription of reference numerals in a database, and facilitatingkeyword-based searching in images based on the stored the extracteddescription of reference numerals.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in thissection are not prior art to the claims in this application and are notadmitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

The big data analysis and review is taking a giant shape in almost allindustries whether be computer rooted or mechanical industries.Reviewing lengthy and bulky analysis reports or documents throughcorresponding images has been a preferred practice in every domain. Thereports or documents such as, but not limited to, technical papers,medical autopsy reports, patent documents, analytical reports, thesis,etc. can be reviewed efficiently by effectively reviewing thecorresponding images. In cases, where the images include graphicalrepresentations, scaled illustrations, drawings, etc. are the mosteffective ones to help in reviews. However, such images include most ofthe information in the form of pointers or reference numerals, whichneed to be referred to in the corresponding detailed text documents.This proves to a cumbersome task and takes out efficiency out of thereview time while reviewing documents on a computer system. In somecases, the images include text written into the images in a languageforeign to the reviewer, thereby making the images practically illegibleor useless.

In furtherance to the above, requirements for platforms that can resolvethe purpose of quick search and analysis of documents or analysisreports has been observed. Although, it is a matter of fact thatreviewing lengthy and bulky analysis reports or documents throughcorresponding images has been a preferred practice, yet there has notbeen any platform that facilitates quick searching in the databases forimages comprising a particular drawing figure.

However, there has not been any such platform that facilitate searchingcertain images directly, via keywords comprising description ofinformation depicted in the images, from a database.

Hence, it is apparent that a need exists for a technique that decimatesthe problems associated with document reviews including the abovementioned one.

SUMMARY

Technologies described herein relate to methods and systems forextracting description of reference numerals in images.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a computer implemented method toextract description of reference numerals in images, text from images,and facilitate keyword-based searching in images is described. Themethod comprises retrieving an image from a first database. The methodfurther comprises retrieving a description document, corresponding tothe image, from a second database. The method further comprisesprocessing the image to extract a first set of one or more referencenumerals. The method further comprises identifying a correspondingdescription of each reference numeral of the first set of one or morereference numerals from the retrieved description document. The methodfurther comprises extracting the corresponding description of eachreference numeral of the first set of one or more reference numerals.The method further comprises displaying each reference numeral of thefirst set of one or more reference numerals along with the correspondingdescription of each reference numeral of the first set of one or morereference numerals on a display device.

In some examples, the method further comprises receiving, as an inputfrom a user, a second set of one or more reference numerals. The methodfurther comprises identifying a corresponding description of eachreference numeral of the second set of one or more reference numeralsfrom the retrieved description document. The method further comprisesextracting the corresponding description of each reference numeral ofthe second set of one or more reference numerals. The method furthercomprises displaying each reference numeral of the second set of one ormore reference numerals along with the corresponding description of eachreference numeral of the second set of one or more reference numerals onthe display device.

In some examples, the method further comprises extracting text from theimage. The method further comprises storing the image along with dataassociated with the image in a third database, wherein the datacomprises the corresponding description of each of the first and secondset of reference numerals and the text extracted from the image.

In some examples, the method further comprises performing the steps ofextracting text, first and second set of reference numerals, andcorresponding descriptions of each of the first and second set of thereference numerals, and storing the data associated with the image for aplurality of images.

In some examples, the method further comprises receiving an input queryfrom the user, wherein the input query comprises one or more keywords.The method further comprises searching the third database to identify atleast one image of the plurality of images, wherein the at least oneimage includes text or at least one reference numeral having acorresponding description that corresponds to the one or more keywordsof the received input query. The method further comprises rendering theidentified at least one image to the user via the display device.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be inany way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments,and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and featureswill become apparent by reference to the drawings and the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other features of this disclosure will become morefully apparent from the following description and appended claims, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that thesedrawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with thedisclosure and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of itsscope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity anddetail through use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 schematically shows an exemplary flow diagram for a method toextract description of reference numerals in images;

FIG. 2 schematically shows an illustrative example diagram of extractionof description of reference numerals in an image of a patent document;

FIG. 3 schematically shows an exemplary flow diagram for a method tofacilitate keyword-based searching in images;

FIGS. 4A and 4B schematically show an illustrative example diagram oftranslation of text extracted from an image; and

FIG. 5 schematically shows a block diagram of an illustrative example ofa system for extracting description of reference numerals in images andfacilitating keyword-based searching in images.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Embodiments of the present invention are best understood by reference tothe figures and description set forth herein. All the aspects of theembodiments described herein will be better appreciated and understoodwhen considered in conjunction with the following description and theaccompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that thefollowing descriptions, while indicating preferred embodiments andnumerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration andnot of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within thescope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit andscope thereof, and the embodiments herein include all suchmodifications.

This disclosure is generally drawn, inter alia, to methods, apparatuses,systems, devices, non-transitory mediums, and computer program productsrelated to accurately extract description of reference numerals inimages and subsequently facilitate keyword-based searching in images.

An example of a system may be configured to extract description ofreference numerals in images. The system may be configured to retrievean image, corresponding to a received input query, from a firstdatabase. The system may be configured to retrieve a descriptiondocument, corresponding to the received input query, from a seconddatabase. The system may be configured to process the image to extract afirst set of one or more reference numerals. The system may beconfigured to identify a corresponding description of each referencenumeral of the first set of one or more reference numerals from theretrieved description document. The system may be configured to extractthe corresponding description of each reference numeral of the first setof one or more reference numerals. The system may be configured todisplay each reference numeral of the first set of one or more referencenumerals along with the corresponding description of each referencenumeral of the first set of one or more reference numerals on a displaydevice.

In some examples, the system, being configured to process the image toextract one or more reference numerals, may be further configured toidentify one or more informative areas and one or more blank areas onthe image. In some examples, the system may be further configured toanalyse each of the one or more informative areas to determine whetherinformation on the informative area is a reference numeral or not. Insome examples, the system may be further configured to extract thereference numeral upon determining that information on the informativearea is a reference numeral.

In some examples, the system may be configured to receive, as input froma user, corrections or modifications in the displayed descriptions ofthe reference numerals.

In some examples, the system, being configured to process the image toextract a first set of one or more reference numerals, may be furtherconfigured to filter garbage or noise out of the extracted first set ofone or more reference numerals. The system may be further configured toprocess the image into pixels and determine coordinates of each pixel.The system may be further configured to check the pixels around thecoordinates of each reference numeral of the extracted first set ofreference numerals and determine whether the pixels around thecoordinates of each reference numeral correspond to garbage or noisevalue. In some example, the garbage or noise value may comprise textsuch as, but not limited to, figure, FIG., drawing, image, or any othersimilar text describing image details. The system may be furtherconfigured to exclude a reference numeral from the first set of thereference numerals upon determining that the coordinates around thecoordinates of the particular reference numeral correspond to garbage ornoise value.

In some examples, the system, being configured to filter garbage ornoise out of the extracted first set of one or more reference numerals,may be further configured to differentiate between a “two-digitreference numeral” and “two closely spaced single digit referencenumerals.” The system may be further configured to process the imageinto pixels and determine coordinates of each pixel. The system may befurther configured to identify probable two-digit reference numeralsfrom the first set of reference numerals. The system may be furtherconfigured to, for each probable two-digit reference numeral, analyseco-ordinates around each digit of the probable two-digit referencenumeral. If the vertical coordinates of the digits of the probabletwo-digit reference numeral are not exactly same, the system may beconfigured to determine the reference numeral to be “two closely spacedsingle digit reference numerals” rather than a “two-digit referencenumeral.” If the vertical coordinates of the digits of the probabletwo-digit reference numeral are exactly same, the system may be furtherconfigured to analyse the horizontal coordinates of the two digits todetermine a distance between the two digits. If the determined distanceis greater than a threshold, the system may be configured to determinethe reference numeral to be “two closely spaced single digit referencenumerals” rather than a “two-digit reference numeral.” If the determineddistance is less than or equal to the threshold, the system may beconfigured to determine the reference numeral to be a “two-digitreference numeral” rather than “two closely spaced single digitreference numerals.”

In some examples, the system, being configured to process the image toextract a first set of one or more reference numerals, may be furtherconfigured to rotate the image, in the plane of the image, and extractthe reference numerals written in each orientation.

In some examples, the system, being configured to process the image toextract a first set of one or more reference numerals, may be furtherconfigured to identify a sequence of the extracted reference numeralsfrom an image. The system may be further configured to exclude areference numeral from a first set of reference numerals upondetermining that the reference numeral is not in sequence with otherreference numerals extracted from the image.

In some examples, the system may be configured to receive, as an inputfrom a user, a second set of one or more reference numerals. In someexamples, the system may be configured to identify a correspondingdescription of each reference numeral of the second set of one or morereference numerals from the retrieved description document. In someexamples, the system may be configured to extract the correspondingdescription of each reference numeral of the second set of one or morereference numerals. In some examples, the system may be furtherconfigured to display each reference numeral of the second set of one ormore reference numerals along with the corresponding description of eachreference numeral of the second set of one or more reference numerals onthe display device.

In some examples, the system may be configured to display multipleimages along with the reference numerals in the multiple images andcorresponding descriptions.

In some examples, the system may be configured to store the image withthe first set and the second set of one or more reference numerals alongwith the corresponding description of each reference numeral of thefirst set and the second set of one or more reference numerals appendedon the image in a third database.

In some examples, the system may be configured to process the image toextract text written in the image. In some examples, the text includesthe information other than the drawing portions and the referencenumerals incorporated in the images. In some examples, the text includesthe information written in the blocks of the drawings, such as flowdiagrams, included in the images. In some examples, the system, beingconfigured to process the image to extract text written in the image,may be further configured to identify one or more informative areas andone or more blank areas on the image. In some examples, the system maybe further configured to analyse each of the one or more informativeareas to determine whether information on the informative area is textwritten in the image or not. In some examples, the system may be furtherconfigured to extract the text upon determining that information on theinformative area is a text.

In some examples, the system, being configured to extract text writtenin the image, may be further configured to identify reference numerals,if any, associated with the text. The system may be further configuredto identify and extract a corresponding description (from thedescription document) of the identified reference numeral. If theextracted corresponding description of the identified reference numeraldoes not match with the text extracted from the image, the system may beconfigured to replace the extracted text with the extractedcorresponding description, thereby improving the accuracy of the textextraction.

In some examples, the system, being configured to process the image toextract text written in the image, may be further configured to rotatethe image, in the plane of the image, and extract the text written ineach orientation.

In some examples, the system may be configured to store the image withthe text extracted from the image along with the first set and thesecond set of one or more reference numerals along with thecorresponding description of each reference numeral of the first set andthe second set of one or more reference numerals appended on the imagein the third database.

In some examples, the system, being configured to process the image toextract the corresponding description of the reference numerals and thetext written in the image, may be configured to identify a firstlanguage of corresponding description of the reference numerals and thetext. The system may be further configured to translate the extractedcorresponding description of the reference numerals and the text into atleast one second language and subsequently store the image in differentversions, each version comprising the image stored along with thecorresponding description of the reference numerals and the text in adifferent language. The system may be configured to display a version ofthe image based on as specified by an input from the user.

In some examples, the system may be configured to associate anidentifier for the any or both of the corresponding description of thereference numerals and the text identified and extracted from the image.The system may be configured to display the corresponding description ofthe reference numerals and the text translated into the second languageanywhere on the display using the corresponding identifier. For example,the text in the first language may occupy much less space than the textwhen translated into the second language. The text identified andextracted from the images data may be given a reference identifier andthe corresponding text translated into the second language can bedisplayed anywhere on the display using the corresponding referenceidentifier.

In some examples, the system may be configured to store each translatedversion of the text extracted from an image, in different languages, indifferent databases or as different files. The data corresponding toeach image, as stored in the different databases or as different files,is associated with each image with the help of an identifier.

In some examples, the system may be configured to perform the abovementioned processes of extraction of reference numerals, correspondingdescriptions, and text from the image for a plurality of images. Thesystem may be configured to store the plurality of images along with thedata associated with each image in different files with the help ofidentifiers. In some examples, the data comprises text extracted fromthe image, all translated versions of the text, all reference numeralsextracted from each image and corresponding description of the referencenumerals. In some examples, the identifiers comprise pointers to thefiles containing each type of data associated with each image. In someexamples, the data may be stored in way such as, but not limited to, adigital file, a table, a compressed file, etc.

In some examples, the system may be configured to receive an input queryfrom a user of the system. In some examples, the input query includesone or more keywords. The keywords corresponding either to thedescription of the reference numerals or to the text stored in thedatabase for the plurality of images. In some examples, the keyword maybe a vocabulary or contextual meaning of the description of thereference numerals or the text stored in the database. In some examples,the keyword may be related to any of the description of the referencenumerals or the text stored in the database in a way so as to be used asa pointer towards the description of the reference numerals or the textstored in the database. In some examples, the input query may a belogical plan formed of more than one keywords and logical operatorsintended to perform a search in the database.

In some examples, the system may be configured to search the database toidentify at least one image of the plurality of images, which at leastone image comprises at least one reference numeral or text correspondingto the received input query. In some examples, the system may beconfigured to identify all the images whose associated data correspondsto the keyword(s) or logical plan contained in the input query. In someexamples, the system may be configured to identify the language of thekeywords of the received input query and perform the search in thecorresponding database or file.

The system may be configured to render the identified at least one imageto the user via a display device. In some examples, all the images whoseassociated data corresponds to the keyword(s) or logical plan containedin the input query are displayed to the user via a display device alongwith the associated data. In some examples, the display device mayinclude, but not limited to, a monitor device, LCD/LED display, touchpanel, any other display device well known to an ordinary skilled in theart.

In the embodiments detailed herein, the images have been described withan exemplary reference to images of patent documents, however, thisexemplary reference should not be considered limiting the scope of thedisclosure in any sense, and it should be understood to a person ofordinary skill in the art that all other examples of images such as, butnot limited to, images, drawings, graphs, illustrations, videos,structures, chemical structures, or the like be considered within thescope of the disclosure. Further, in the embodiments detailed herein,the description document have been described with an exemplary referenceto detailed description of patent document, however, this exemplaryreference should not be considered limiting the scope of the disclosurein any sense, and it should be understood to a person of ordinary skillin the art that all other examples of description documents such as, butnot limited to, review papers, technical papers, e-newspapers, reports,medical analysis, or the like be considered within the scope of thedisclosure. In the embodiments detailed herein, by way of example butnot limitation, the reference numerals include identifiers referring tovarious portions of the drawings depicted in an image of the patentdocument and each reference numeral has a corresponding description inthe detailed description of the patent document. In the embodimentsdetailed herein, by way of example but not limitation, the text includesthe information other than the drawing portions and the referencenumerals incorporated in the images. In some examples, the text includesthe information written in the blocks of the drawings, such as but notlimited to flow diagrams, included in the images.

The disclosure strives to revolutionize the concept of documentreviewing on the computer systems by improving efficiency of review ofcorresponding images of the documents. The images including graphicalrepresentations, scaled illustrations, drawings, etc. may be processedto extract reference numerals and display the corresponding descriptionof the reference numerals on the image itself to improve the efficiencyof review of the images. Further, the images including block diagrams,flow charts, etc. comprising text in a first language may be processedto extract the text, translate the text into different languages, anddisplay the image in different versions, each version comprising thetext in a different language to improve the efficiency of review of theimages.

Further, the disclosure strives to revolutionize the concept of quicksearch and analysis of documents or analysis reports in computer rooteddomains by providing a platform that facilitates searching certainimages directly, via keywords comprising description of informationdepicted in the images, from a database.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an example flow diagram of a method for amethod to extract description of reference numerals in images, arrangedin accordance with at least some embodiments described herein. Anexample method shown generally at 100 includes retrieving an image froma first database (block 110), retrieving a description document from asecond database (block 120), processing the image to extract a first setof one or more reference numerals (block 130), identifying acorresponding description of each reference numeral from the retrieveddescription document (block 140), extracting the correspondingdescription of each reference numeral (block 150), and displaying eachreference numeral along with the corresponding description (block 160).

Method 100 may be implemented in a system such as the system shown inFIG. 5.

Method 100 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions asillustrated by one or more of blocks 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, and/or160. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks may bedivided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, oreliminated, depending on the desired implementation. In some furtherexamples, the various described blocks may be implemented as a parallelprocess instead of a sequential process, or as a combination thereof.

At block 110, a system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 5) may be adapted toretrieve an image corresponding to an input query from a first database.By way of example, but not limitation, the image may include picture,pictorial representation, patent image, patent drawing, graph,illustration, video, structure, or chemical structures. By way ofexample, but not limitation, the input query may be entered by a user ofthe system.

At block 120, the system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 5) may be adapted toretrieve a description document corresponding to the input query from asecond database. By way of example, but not limitation, the descriptiondocument may include patent description, specification, review paper,technical paper, e-newspaper, report, or medical analysis, correspondingto the retrieved image. By way of example, but not limitation, file typeof the description document may be pdf, word document, excel sheet, htmlpage, etc.

At block 130, the system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 5) may be adapted toprocess the image to extract a first set of one or more referencenumerals. By way of example, but not limitation, the reference numeralsmay include numeric, alphabet, alpha-numeric representations referringto some part of the corresponding description. In some examples (notshown in FIG. 1), processing the image to extract the reference numeralsmay comprise identifying one or more informative areas and one or moreblank areas on the image, analysing each of the one or more informativeareas to determine whether information on the informative area is areference numeral or not, and extracting the reference numerals upondetermining that information on the informative area is a referencenumeral. By way of example, but not limitation, the informative areaincludes portions or pixels of the image comprising information, i.e.,having colour difference with respect to a background of the image. Byway of example, but not limitation, the blank area includes portions orpixels of the image not comprising information, i.e., background of theimage. In some examples, processing the image to extract the referencenumerals may comprise scanning the images using a technique thatincludes, but is not limited to, optical character recognition, videoscanning, formula scanning, or the like.

In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1), processing the image to extractthe reference numerals may comprise filtering garbage or noise out ofthe extracted first set of one or more reference numerals. In someexamples, filtering garbage or noise out of the extracted first set ofone or more reference numerals may comprise processing the image intopixels and determine coordinates of each pixel. In some examples,filtering garbage or noise out of the extracted first set of one or morereference numerals may comprise checking the pixels around thecoordinates of each reference numeral of the extracted first set ofreference numerals and determining whether the pixels around thecoordinates of each reference numeral correspond to garbage or noisevalue. In some example, the garbage or noise value may comprise textsuch as, but not limited to, figure, FIG., drawing, image, or any othersimilar text describing image details. In some examples, filteringgarbage or noise out of the extracted first set of one or more referencenumerals may comprise excluding a reference numeral from the first setof the reference numerals upon determining that the coordinates aroundthe coordinates of the particular reference numeral correspond togarbage or noise value. For example, numeral ‘12’ in FIG. 2 would not beidentified as a reference numeral because of presence of text ‘FIG.’(garbage value) in the left co-ordinates of numeral ‘12.’

In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1), filtering garbage or noise outof the extracted first set of one or more reference numerals maycomprise differentiating between a “two-digit reference numeral” and“two closely spaced single digit reference numerals.” In some examples,filtering garbage or noise out of the extracted first set of one or morereference numerals may comprise identifying probable two-digit referencenumerals from the first set of reference numerals, and for each probabletwo-digit reference numeral, analysing co-ordinates of and around eachdigit of the probable two-digit reference numeral. If the verticalcoordinates of the digits of the probable two-digit reference numeralare not same, the reference numeral is determined to be “two closelyspaced single digit reference numerals” rather than a “two-digitreference numeral.” If the vertical coordinates of the digits of theprobable two-digit reference numeral are same (with a threshold value oftolerance), the horizontal coordinates of the two digits are analysed todetermine a distance between the two digits. If the determined distanceis greater than a threshold, the reference numeral is determined to be“two closely spaced single digit reference numerals” rather than a“two-digit reference numeral.” If the determined distance is less thanor equal to the threshold, the reference numeral is determined to be a“two-digit reference numeral” rather than “two closely spaced singledigit reference numerals.”

In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1), processing the image to extracta first set of one or more reference numerals, may further compriserotating the image, in the plane of the image, and extract the referencenumerals written in each orientation (explained in further detail withreference to FIG. 2 below).

In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1), processing the image to extracta first set of one or more reference numerals, may further compriseidentifying a sequence of the extracted reference numerals from animage. The method 100 may further comprise excluding a reference numeralfrom a first set of reference numerals upon determining that thereference numeral is not in sequence with other reference numeralsextracted from the image.

At block 140, the system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 5) may be adapted toidentify a corresponding description of each extracted reference numeralfrom the retrieved description document. In some examples (not shown inFIG. 1), identifying a corresponding description of each extractedreference numeral may comprise identifying the recitations of thereference numerals in the description document, and identifyingcorresponding description referring to the reference numerals. By way ofexample, but not limitation, the description may be name of an element,depicted in the image, corresponding to the reference numeral,description of an an element, depicted in the image, corresponding tothe reference numeral, etc. In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1),identifying a corresponding description of each extracted referencenumeral may comprise identifying the corresponding description based onthe frequency of occurrence of that particular description for thereference numeral in the description document. For example, if areference numeral X has two descriptions A and B, and frequency ofoccurrence of A is more than B in the description document, then thedescription A is identified as corresponding description of referencenumeral X. In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1), identifying acorresponding description of each extracted reference numeral maycomprise identifying the corresponding description based on firstrecitation of the reference numeral in the description document and/orcontext matching.

At block 150, the system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 5) may be adapted toextract the corresponding description of each reference numeral of thefirst set of one or more reference numerals.

At block 160, the system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 5) may be adapted todisplay each reference numeral of the first set of one or more referencenumerals along with the corresponding description of each referencenumeral of the first set of one or more reference numerals on a displaydevice. In some examples, the one or more reference numerals along withthe corresponding description may be displayed in tabular format.However, it should be understood to an ordinary skilled in the art thatother methods of displaying and illustrating the reference numeralsalong with the corresponding description are with in the scope of thisdisclosure. In some examples, the display of the the reference numeralsalong with the corresponding description may or may not overlay an areaon the image. In some examples, a frequency of occurrence of eachreference numeral may be displayed along with corresponding description.

In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1), the method 100 may furthercomprise receiving, as input from a user, corrections or modificationsin the displayed first set of one or more reference numerals and/orcorresponding description of the reference numerals.

In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1), the method 100 may furthercomprise receiving, as an input from a user, a second set of one or morereference numerals. The method 100 may further comprise identifying acorresponding description of each reference numeral of the second set ofone or more reference numerals from the retrieved description document.The method 100 may further comprise extracting the correspondingdescription of each reference numeral of the second set of one or morereference numerals. The method 100 may further comprise displaying eachreference numeral of the second set of one or more reference numeralsalong with the corresponding description of each reference numeral ofthe second set of one or more reference numerals on the display device.

In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1), the method 100 may furthercomprise identifying a first language of the corresponding descriptionsof all the reference numerals. The method 100 may further comprisetranslating the corresponding descriptions of all the reference numeralsinto at least one second language. The method 100 may further comprisedisplaying the reference numerals along with the correspondingdescriptions in a language chosen by a user input.

In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1), the method 100 may furthercomprise extracting text written in the image and identifying a firstlanguage of the text. The method 100 may further comprise translatingthe extracted text into at least one second language and subsequentlystoring the image in different versions, each version comprising theimage stored along with the corresponding descriptions of the referencenumerals and text in a different language. The method 100 may furthercomprise displaying a version of the image based on as specified by aninput from the user.

In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1) extracting text written in theimage may further comprise rotating the image, in the plane of theimage, and extracting the text written in each orientation.

In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1), extracting text written in theimage may further comprise identifying reference numerals, if any,associated with the text. The method 100 may further compriseidentifying and extracting a corresponding description of the identifiedreference numeral. If the extracted corresponding description of theidentified reference numeral does not match with the text extracted fromthe image, the method 100 may further comprise replacing the extractedtext with the extracted corresponding description, thereby improving theaccuracy of the text extraction.

In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1), the method 100 may furthercomprise associating an identifier for the text identified and extractedfrom the image. The method 100 may further comprise displaying thecorresponding text translated into the second language anywhere on thedisplay using the corresponding identifier. For example, the text in thefirst language may occupy much less space than the text when translatedinto the second language. The text identified and extracted from theimages data may be given a reference identifier and the correspondingtext translated into the second language can be displayed anywhere onthe display using the corresponding reference identifier.

In some examples (not shown in FIG. 1), the method 100 may furthercomprise performing the above mentioned steps of extraction of referencenumerals, corresponding descriptions, and text from the image for aplurality of images of a plurality of documents. The method 100 mayfurther comprise storing the plurality of images along with the dataassociated with each image in different files with the help ofidentifiers in a third database. In some examples, the data comprisestext extracted from the image, all translated versions of the text, allreference numerals extracted from each image, corresponding descriptionof the reference numerals, and all translated versions of thecorresponding description of the reference numerals. In some examples,the identifiers comprise pointers to the files containing each type ofdata associated with each image. In some examples, the data may bestored in way such as, but not limited to, a digital file, a table, acompressed file, etc.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that, for this and other methodsdisclosed herein, the functions performed in the methods may beimplemented in differing order. Furthermore, the outlined steps andoperations are only provided as examples, and some of the steps andoperations may be optional, combined into fewer steps and operations, orexpanded into additional steps and operations without detracting fromthe essence of the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 2 schematically shows an example illustrative diagram of extractionof description of reference numerals in an image of a patent document,arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein.An example illustration shown generally at in FIG. 2 includes ascreenshot 200 of an interface of a system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 3)performing the method as described above with reference to FIG. 1. Thescreenshot 200 generally shows extraction of description of referencenumerals “150,” “180,” “406,” “420,” “450,” “451,” of “FIG. 12” of thepatent document.

As shown in FIG. 2, the screenshot includes a table 202 depictingreference numerals column 204 showing reference numerals of image 208and relevant text column 206 comprising description of each referencenumeral.

In some examples, FIG. 2 depicts the operation of method 100 asdescribed above, in that, the reference numerals “150,” “180,” “406,”“420,” “450,” “451,” as shown in reference numeral column 204 have beenextracted by the system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 3) from image 208 andcorresponding descriptions have been identified and extracted from anassociated description document (not shown), such as specification ofthe patent document, and displayed in table 202 along with correspondingreference numeral.

In some examples, as described above with reference to FIG. 1, themethod 100 comprising the steps of filtering garbage or noise out of theextracted first set of one or more reference numerals will be describedherein with reference to FIG. 2. For example, the image 208 depicted inFIG. 2 comprises a reference numeral ‘12.’ In some examples, the method100 comprises processing the image 208 into pixels and determinecoordinates of each pixel. The coordinates around the coordinates ofreference numeral ‘12’ are checked and it is determined that thecoordinates around the coordinates of the particular reference numeralcorrespond to garbage or noise value, i.e., “FIG.” Thus, referencenumeral ‘12’ is excluded from the first set of reference numerals whosecorresponding description is to be identified and extracted.

Further, the image 208 depicted in FIG. 2 comprises a reference numeral‘458.’ In some examples, the method 100 comprises processing the image208 into pixels and determine coordinates of each pixel. The coordinatesaround each digit of reference numeral ‘458’ are analysed and it isdetermined that the vertical coordinates of each digit of referencenumeral ‘458’ are same. Subsequently, horizontal coordinates around eachdigit of reference numeral ‘458’ are analysed and it is determined thatthe distance between each digit of reference numeral ‘458’ is less thana threshold, thereby determining that reference numeral ‘458’ is athree-digit single reference numeral, i.e., ‘458’ and not three separatesingle digit reference numerals 4, 5, and 8. Further, if the verticalcoordinates of each digit of reference numeral ‘458’ are same, it isdetermined that reference numeral ‘458’ is not a three-digit singlereference numeral, i.e., ‘458’ but three separate single digit referencenumerals 4, 5, and 8.

Further, the image 208 depicted in FIG. 2 comprises text ‘TONE COMMAND’and ‘PHY CLOCK,’ and a reference numeral ‘450’ written in differentorientations from other portions of the image 208. In some examples, themethod 100 comprising extracting the reference numerals and text fromthe image, may further comprise rotating the image 208 in the plane ofimage 208 and about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the image 208.The method 100 may further comprise extracting the text and referencenumerals from the image in each orientation. For example, the text ‘TONECOMMAND’ in image 208 is extracted when the image 208 is in anorientation 90° rotated clockwise and the text ‘PHY CLOCK’ and referencenumeral ‘450’ in image 208 are extracted when the image 208 is in anorientation 90° rotated anti-clockwise, whereas text ‘TONE COMMAND’ and‘PHY CLOCK,’ and the reference numeral ‘450’ could not have beenextracted using OCR techniques.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that 90° rotated clockwise and90° rotated anti-clockwise are exemplary and any other orientation beconsidered within the scope of the disclosure without detracting fromthe essence of the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 3 schematically shows an example flow diagram of a method tofacilitate keyword-based searching in images, arranged in accordancewith at least some embodiments described herein. An example method showngenerally at 300 includes extracting reference numerals from a pluralityof images (block 310), extracting corresponding description of each ofthe reference numerals (block 320), extracting text from the pluralityof images (block 330), storing the plurality of images along with thecorresponding description of each of the reference numerals and the textin a database (block 340), receiving an input query (block 350),searching the database to identify image(s) containing referencenumeral(s) or text corresponding to the received input query (block360), and rendering the identified image(s) via a display device (block370).

Method 300 may be implemented in a system such as the system shown inFIG. 5.

Method 300 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions asillustrated by one or more of blocks 310, 320, 330, 340, 350, 360 and/or370. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks may bedivided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, oreliminated, depending on the desired implementation. In some furtherexamples, the various described blocks may be implemented as a parallelprocess instead of a sequential process, or as a combination thereof.

At block 310, a system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 5) may be adapted toextract reference numerals from each of a plurality of images asdescribed above with reference to at least one step of FIG. 1.

At block 320, the system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 5) may be adapted toextract the corresponding description of each of the reference numeralsfrom corresponding description documents associated with each of theplurality of images as described above with reference to at least onestep of method 100.

At block 330, the system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 5) may be adapted toextract text from the plurality of images as described above withreference to at least one step of method 100.

At block 340, the system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 5) may be adapted tostore each of the plurality of images along with data associated witheach of the plurality of images in a database as described above withreference to at least one step of method 100.

At block 350, the system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 5) may be adapted toreceive an input query from a user of the system. In some examples, theinput query includes one or more keywords. The keywords correspondingeither to the description of the reference numerals or to the textstored in the database for the plurality of images. In some examples,the keyword may be a vocabulary or contextual meaning of the descriptionof the reference numerals or the text stored in the database. In someexamples, the keyword may be related to any of the description of thereference numerals or the text stored in the database in a way so as tobe used as a pointer towards the description of the reference numeralsor the text stored in the database. In some examples, the input querymay a be logical plan formed of more than one keywords and logicaloperators intended to perform a search in the database.

At block 360, the system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 5) may be adapted tosearch the database to identify at least one image of the plurality ofimages, which at least one image comprises at least one referencenumeral or text corresponding to the received input query. In someexamples, the system may be adapted to identify all the images whoseassociated data corresponds to the keyword(s) or logical plan containedin the input query.

In some examples (not shown in FIG. 3), the method 300 may furthercomprise identifying the language of the keywords of the received inputquery and performing the search in the corresponding database or filefor the images containing reference numerals and/or text correspondingto the language of the keywords of the input query.

At block 370, the system (e.g. as one shown in FIG. 5) may be adapted torender the identified at least one image to the user via a displaydevice. In some examples, all the images whose associated datacorresponds to the keyword(s) or logical plan contained in the inputquery are displayed to the user via a display device along with theassociated data. In some examples, the display device may include, butnot limited to, a monitor device, LCD/LED display, touch panel, anyother display device well known to an ordinary skilled in the art.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that, for this and other methodsdisclosed herein, the functions performed in the methods may beimplemented in differing order. Furthermore, the outlined steps andoperations are only provided as examples, and some of the steps andoperations may be optional, combined into fewer steps and operations, orexpanded into additional steps and operations without detracting fromthe essence of the disclosed embodiments.

FIGS. 4A and 4B schematically show an illustrative example diagram oftranslation of text and/or corresponding descriptions of the referencenumerals extracted from an image. FIG. 4A depicts an image 402Acomprising text blocks 10, 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c. In some examples, thetext of the text blocks as well as the reference numerals 10, 10 a, 10b, and 10 c are extracted from the image according to at least some ofthe steps of the method 100 as described above. The text from blocks 10,10 a, 10 b, and 10 c is extracted and a first language of the text,i.e., Japanese is identified. Subsequently, the text is translated intoa second language, i.e., English. In some examples, in order to increasethe accuracy of the text extraction, the reference numerals 10, 10 a, 10b, and 10 c are extracted and their respective correspondingdescriptions are extracted from a corresponding document describing theimage 402A. In case the text extracted from any of the blocks 10, 10 a,10 b, and 10 c does not match the corresponding description of thereference numeral 10, 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c, the extracted text isreplaced with the corresponding description. In some examples, thesecond language is received as an input from a user, or is a pre-setlanguage.

In some examples, the image, such as 402A, may also contain referencenumerals which are not the reference numerals of the text blocks. Themethod 100 may, in such cases, comprise extracting such referencenumerals and corresponding descriptions, and translating thecorresponding descriptions from a first language to a second language.

As shown in FIG. 4B, image 402B depicts the text extracted from image402A displayed in the second language in the place of the text of theimage 402A. The identifiers 1, 2, 3, and 4 are associated with thetranslated text and the text is shown in a table format with the help ofidentifiers. For example, the column 404 lists the identifiers 1, 2, 3,and 4, the column 406 lists the reference numerals 10, 10 a, 10 b, and10 c, and the column 408 lists the translated text as depicted in FIG.4B.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that Japanese and English areexemplary languages and any other language be considered within thescope of the disclosure without detracting from the essence of thedisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a block diagram of an illustrative example asystem 500 for extracting description of reference numerals in an imageand facilitating keyword-based search in images, arranged in accordancewith at least some embodiments described herein. As depicted in FIG. 5,the system 500 includes a first database unit 510, a second databaseunit 520, a third database unit 530, a computer readable memory storage540, a processor unit 550, an input interface unit 560, and an outputinterface unit 570. Although illustrated as discrete components, variouscomponents may be divided into additional components, combined intofewer components, or eliminated while being contemplated within thescope of the disclosed subject matter. It will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that each function and/or operation of the componentsmay be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range ofhardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. Thesystem components may be provided by one or more server computers andassociated components.

In some examples, the first database 510 may be configured to store atleast one image and the second database 520 may be configured to storeat least one description document associated with the at least one imagestored in the first database 510. The third database 530 may beconfigured to store at least one image along with its text, referencenumerals, and corresponding descriptions of the reference numerals. Insome examples, the first, second, and third databases 510, 520, and 530may be implemented as cloud-based databases. In some examples, thefirst, second, and third databases 510, 520, and 530 may be implementedas single database.

In some examples, the memory unit 540 may be configured to store a setof instructions, which when executed by the processor unit 550, maycause the system 500 to perform the methods 100 and/or 300 as describedabove.

In some examples, the processor unit 550 may be configured to performsome or all the operations of the methods 100 and/or 300 as detailedabove. By way of example, but not limitation, the processor unit 550 maybe configured to retrieve an image, retrieve a description documentassociated with the image, process the image to extract a first set ofone or more reference numerals, identify a corresponding description ofeach reference numeral of the first set of one or more referencenumerals from the retrieved description document, receive as input asecond set of reference numerals, extract the corresponding descriptionof each reference numeral, display each reference numeral along with thecorresponding description of each reference numeral on a display device.

In some examples, the processor unit 550 may be configured to extracttext written in the image as described in reference to method 100 and/or300. In some examples, the processor unit 550 may comprise a translationengine 552 configured to translate the text extracted from the imagesand corresponding descriptions of the reference numerals extracted fromthe images into a plurality of languages. In some examples, theprocessor unit 550 may comprise a rotation engine 554 configured torotate an image in the plane of the image about an axis perpendicular tothe plane. The rotation 554 may be configured to rotate the image toenable the processor unit to extract the text and reference numeralsfrom the image in written each orientation.

In some examples, the processor unit 550 may be configured to extracttext and reference numerals and their corresponding descriptions for aplurality of images and store the plurality of images along with thedata associated with the images associated to the images with the helpof identifiers in database 530. By way of example, but not limitation,the data may be text extracted from the image and all translatedversions of the text, reference numerals extracted from the image,corresponding descriptions of the reference numerals and all thetranslated versions of the corresponding description.

In some examples, the processor unit 550 may be configured to receive aninput query comprising one or more keywords, search the database 530 toidentify at least one image of the plurality of images, which the atleast one image comprises at least one reference numeral or textcorresponding to the received input query, and render the identified atleast one image to the user via an output interface unit such as, butnot limited to, output interface unit 570.

In some examples, the input interface unit 560 may be configured toprovide an input interface to a user of the system 500, to provide aninput. By way of example, but not limitation, the input may include aninput query in the form of a logical plan formed of more than onekeywords and logical operators intended to perform a search in thedatabase 530. By way of example, but not limitation, the input interfaceunit 560 may include a mouse, keyboard, joystick, touchpad, touchscreen, voice recognition unit, or any other input unit known to aperson having ordinary skill in the art.

In some examples, the output interface unit 570 may be configured toprovide an output interface to display or render an output to a user ofthe system 500. By way of example, but not limitation, the output mayinclude display of identified image from the database 530, and/or imagealong with extracted corresponding descriptions of the referencenumerals. By way of example, but not limitation, the output interfaceunit 250 may include a display screen, touch screen, audio unit,projector unit, or any other output unit known to a person havingordinary skill in the art.

An exemplary, but not limiting, operation of the present disclosure isdetailed herein. The images of a number of patent documents areprocessed to extract reference numerals from the images. A correspondingdescription of each of the reference numeral is extracted from thecorresponding patent specification. For example, the images of a patentdocument X are processed to extract reference numerals from the images,and a corresponding description of the reference numerals is extractedfrom the detailed specification of the patent document X. Similarly,reference numerals and corresponding descriptions are extracted forimages of all the patent documents. Further, text written in the imagesis also extracted. The extracted data (i.e. the extracted text andcorresponding description of all the reference numerals) is stored in adatabase. For example, each image of each of the patent documents isstored in the database and is tagged with the text extracted from theimage and the corresponding description of the reference numeralsextracted from the image. An input query, in the form of a logical planformed of the one or more keywords and logical operators intended toperform a search, for relevant images, in the database. The keywords maybe a contextual meaning of the description of the reference numerals orthe text. The database is searched to identify images whose data (i.e.the extracted text and corresponding description of all the referencenumerals) correspond to the input query. All such identified images arethen displayed to the user. For example, a user wants to search forpatent documents, at least one of whose images depict a “wheel rim.” Theuser enters an input query made up of keywords including “wheel rim”and/or synonyms of “wheel rim.” The database is searched to identify thecorresponding images. All the images whose extracted text orcorresponding description of whose extracted reference numerals relateto the keywords of the input query, are identified and displayed to theuser. Thus, all the images, either containing text “wheel rim” orsynonyms thereof, or containing reference numeral whose correspondingdescription correspond to “wheel rim” or synonyms thereof, are displayedto the user.

It is to be noted herein that various aspects and objects of the presentinvention described above as methods and processes should be understoodto an ordinary skilled in the art as being implemented using a systemthat includes a computer that has a CPU, display, memory and inputdevices such as a keyboard and mouse. According to an embodiment, thesystem is implemented as computer readable and executable instructionsstored on a computer readable media for execution by a general orspecial purpose processor. The system may also include associatedhardware and/or software components to carry out the above describedmethod functions. The system is preferably connected to an internetconnection to receive and transmit data.

The term “computer-readable media” as used herein refers to any mediumthat provides or participates in providing instructions to the processorof the computer (or any other processor of a device described herein)for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but notlimited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile mediainclude, for example, optical, magnetic, or opto-magnetic disks, such asmemory. Volatile media include dynamic random access memory (DRAM),which typically constitutes the main memory. Common forms ofcomputer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexibledisk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM,DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any otherphysical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM orEEPROM (electronically erasable programmable read-only memory), aFLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other mediumfrom which a computer can read.

Although the present invention has been described in terms of certainpreferred embodiments, various features of separate embodiments can becombined to form additional embodiments not expressly described.Moreover, other embodiments apparent to those of ordinary skill in theart after reading this disclosure are also within the scope of thisinvention. Furthermore, not all of the features, aspects and advantagesare necessarily required to practice the present invention. Thus, whilethe above detailed description has shown, described, and pointed outnovel features of the invention as applied to various embodiments, itwill be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes inthe form and details of the apparatus or process illustrated may be madeby those of ordinary skill in the technology without departing from thespirit of the invention. The inventions may be embodied in otherspecific forms not explicitly described herein. The embodimentsdescribed above are to be considered in all respects as illustrativeonly and not restrictive in any manner. Thus, scope of the invention isindicated by the following claims rather than by the foregoingdescription.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer implemented method to extractdescription of reference numerals in images, text from images, andfacilitate keyword-based searching in images, the method comprising:retrieving an image from a first database; retrieving a descriptiondocument from a second database, wherein the description documentcorresponds to the image; processing the image to extract a first set ofone or more reference numerals, wherein processing the image to extractthe first set of one or more reference numerals comprises: rotating theimage in a plane of the image about an axis perpendicular to the planeof the image thereby changing an orientation of the image, andextracting the one or more reference numerals written in the image ineach orientation of the image; identifying a corresponding descriptionof each reference numeral of the first set of one or more referencenumerals from the retrieved description document; extracting thecorresponding description of each reference numeral of the first set ofone or more reference numerals; and displaying each reference numeral ofthe first set of one or more reference numerals along with thecorresponding description of each reference numeral of the first set ofone or more reference numerals on a display device.
 2. The computerimplemented method of claim 1 further comprises: receiving, as an inputfrom a user, a second set of one or more reference numerals; identifyinga corresponding description of each reference numeral of the second setof one or more reference numerals from the retrieved descriptiondocument; extracting the corresponding description of each referencenumeral of the second set of one or more reference numerals; anddisplaying each reference numeral of the second set of one or morereference numerals along with the corresponding description of eachreference numeral of the second set of one or more reference numerals onthe display device.
 3. The computer implemented method of claim 2further comprising: extracting text from the image; and storing theimage along with data associated with the image in a third database,wherein the data comprises the corresponding description of each of thefirst and second set of reference numerals and the text extracted fromthe image.
 4. The method of computer implemented method of claim 3,wherein the steps of extracting text, first and second set of referencenumerals, and corresponding descriptions of each of the first and secondset of the reference numerals, and storing the data associated with theimage are performed for a plurality of images.
 5. The method of computerimplemented method of claim 4 further comprising: receiving an inputquery from the user, wherein the input query comprises one or morekeywords; searching the third database to identify at least one image ofthe plurality of images, wherein the at least one image includes text orat least one reference numeral having a corresponding description thatcorresponds to the one or more keywords of the received input query; andrendering the identified at least one image to the user via the displaydevice.
 6. The computer implemented method of claim 3, whereinprocessing the image to extract one or more reference numerals and/ortext comprises: identifying one or more informative areas and one ormore blank areas on the image; analysing each of the one or moreinformative areas to determine whether information on the informativearea is a reference numeral and/or text or not; and extracting thereference numeral and/or text upon determining that information on theinformative area is a reference numeral and/or text.
 7. The computerimplemented method of claim 1, wherein processing the image to extractone or more reference numerals comprises: processing the image intopixels; determining coordinates of each reference numeral of the firstset of one or more reference numerals; analysing pixels around thecoordinates of each reference numeral of the first set of one or morereference numerals; determining whether the pixels around thecoordinates of the one or more reference numerals correspond to agarbage value, wherein the garbage value is at least one of figure,FIG., drawing, or image; excluding a first reference numeral from thefirst set of one or more reference numerals upon determining that thepixels around the coordinates of the first reference numeral correspondto the garbage value.
 8. A system to extract description of referencenumerals in images, text from images, and facilitate keyword-basedsearching in images, the system comprising: a first database that storesat least one image; a second database that stores at least onedescription document associated with the at least one image stored inthe first database; at least one computer readable memory; and at leastone processor unit comprising a processor coupled to the at least onecomputer readable memory, wherein the processor is configured to:retrieve an image from the at least one image stored in the firstdatabase; retrieve a description document from the at least descriptiondocument stored in the second database, wherein the description documentcorresponds to the image; process the image to extract a first set ofone or more reference numerals, wherein the one or more referencenumerals are written in one or more different orientations in the image;identify a corresponding description of each reference numeral of thefirst set of one or more reference numerals from the retrieveddescription document; extract the corresponding description of eachreference numeral of the first set of one or more reference numerals;and display each reference numeral of the first set of one or morereference numerals along with the corresponding description of eachreference numeral of the first set of one or more reference numerals ona display device, wherein: the system further comprises a rotationengine configured to rotate the image in a plane of the image about anaxis perpendicular to the plane of the image thereby changing anorientation of the image, and the processor is configured to extract theone or more reference numerals from the image in each orientation of theimage.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to: receive, as an input from a user, a second set ofone or more reference numerals; identify a corresponding description ofeach reference numeral of the second set of one or more referencenumerals from the retrieved description document; extract thecorresponding description of each reference numeral of the second set ofone or more reference numerals; and display each reference numeral ofthe second set of one or more reference numerals along with thecorresponding description of each reference numeral of the second set ofone or more reference numerals on the display device.
 10. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:extract text from the image; and store the image along with dataassociated with the image in a third database, wherein the datacomprises the corresponding description of each of the first and secondset of reference numerals and the text extracted from the image.
 11. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor, being configuredto extract text, first and second set of reference numerals, andcorresponding descriptions of each of the first and second set of thereference numerals, and to store the data associated with the image, isfurther configured to extract text, first and second set of referencenumerals, and corresponding descriptions of each of the first and secondset of the reference numerals, and to store the data associated with theimage for a plurality of images.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein theat least one processor is further configured to: receive an input queryfrom the user, wherein the input query comprises one or more keywords;search the third database to identify at least one image of theplurality of images, wherein the at least one image includes text or atleast one reference numeral having a corresponding description thatcorresponds to the one or more keywords of the received input query; andrender the identified at least one image to the user via the displaydevice.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor,being configured to process the image to extract the one or morereference numerals and/or text, is further configured to: identify oneor more informative areas and one or more blank areas on the image;analyse each of the one or more informative areas to determine whetherinformation on the informative area is a reference numeral and/or textor not; and extract the reference numeral and/or text upon determiningthat information on the informative area is a reference numeral and/ortext.
 14. The system of claim 10 further comprising: a translationengine configured to translate the text extracted from the image and/orthe corresponding description of one or more reference numeralsextracted from the image into a plurality of languages.
 15. Anon-transitory computer readable medium comprising a computer-readablecode comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor, causesthe processor to: retrieve an image from a first database; retrieve adescription document from a second database, wherein the descriptiondocument corresponds to the image; process the image to extract a firstset of one or more reference numerals, wherein the one or more referencenumerals are written in one or more different orientations in the image,and wherein the computer-readable code comprising instructions, whichwhen executed by a processor, causes the processor to process the imagefurther comprises instructions, which when executed by the processor,causes the processor to: rotate the image in a plane of the image aboutan axis perpendicular to the plane of the image thereby changing anorientation of the image, and extract the one or more reference numeralswritten in the image in each orientation of the image; identify acorresponding description of each reference numeral of the first set ofone or more reference numerals from the retrieved description document;extract the corresponding description of each reference numeral of thefirst set of one or more reference numerals; and display each referencenumeral of the first set of one or more reference numerals along withthe corresponding description of each reference numeral of the first setof one or more reference numerals on a display device.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein thecomputer-readable code further comprises instructions, which whenexecuted by a processor, causes the processor to: extract text from theimage; and store the image along with data associated with the image ina third database, wherein the data comprises the correspondingdescription of each reference numeral of the first set of referencenumerals and the text extracted from the image.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the computer-readable codecomprising instructions, which when executed by a processor, causes theprocessor to extract text, the first set of reference numerals, andcorresponding descriptions of the first set of the reference numerals,and to store the data associated with the image, further comprisesinstructions, which when executed by the processor causes the processorto extract text, the first set of reference numerals, and correspondingdescriptions of the first set of the reference numerals, and to storethe data associated with the image for a plurality of images.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein thecomputer-readable code further comprises instructions, which whenexecuted by a processor, causes the processor to: receive an input queryfrom a user, wherein the input query comprises one or more keywords;search the third database to identify at least one image of theplurality of images, wherein the at least one image includes text or atleast one reference numeral having a corresponding description thatcorresponds to the one or more keywords of the received input query; andrender the identified at least one image to the user via a displaydevice.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16,wherein the computer-readable code further comprises instructions, whichwhen executed by a processor, causes the processor to: identify one ormore informative areas and one or more blank areas on the image; analyseeach of the one or more informative areas to determine whetherinformation on the informative area is a reference numeral and/or textor not; and extract the reference numeral and/or text upon determiningthat information on the informative area is a reference numeral and/ortext.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15,wherein the computer-readable code further comprises instructions, whichwhen executed by a processor, causes the processor to differentiatebetween a two-digit reference numeral and two closely spacedsingle-digit reference numerals in the first set of one or morereference numerals.